


Ink Me Free

by joochanghyuki



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Bucket List, Established Relationship, Getting Together, HyungHyuk Bingo, M/M, Minhyuk being his own thrill seeking self, Soft Boyfriends of course, Tattoo Artist Hyungwon, the smallest hints of Jookyun and Kiho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 17:54:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15491418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joochanghyuki/pseuds/joochanghyuki
Summary: The creator in him wants nothing but to make elaborate designs on the whole expanse of Minhyuk’s smooth chest and back. He wants to ask Minhyuk to open his legs so he can ink the universe on his thighs but that’s not something he can ask to someone he’s just met.Minhyuk probably only wanted a small tattoo of whatever pattern with little to no relevance and its only purpose it to be able to check out one line from a whole list of stupid things Minhyuk will be doing in his life.





	Ink Me Free

**Author's Note:**

> I have never gotten a tattoo so (1) theres a whole lot of lacking in here and (2) don't expect anything as per usual!

 

 

**[July, 2018]**

 

 

Hyungwon wakes up to a mess of dark brown hair peeking from underneath familiar black and white striped sheets. He feels a swell of emotions pass through him as he realises his current position and quietly he basks in the reality he’s not quite convinced he’s living in. He doesn’t even try to fight the automatic upward pull on his cheeks and plump lips because right there and then, there is no reason to not smile.

He’s sure he’s smiling much too wide, so wide that his face muscles ache for a bit until the thought of it all is quickly pushed aside in favour of recounting the memory of their night before. It was typical, nothing out of their ordinary lazy weekends but still it was perfect with all the things that mattered the most to Hyungwon. It was everything he ever wishes for; to be holed up with his lover in their shared home in different stages of undress.

 

He loves it the most when Minhyuk is only wearing Hyungwon’s tiny black boxers, feet ironically wrapped in marvel character socks. He’ll tease Hyungwon by making the most sexually suggestive satisfied noises as they eat unhealthy takeout and exchange never ending loveable banter. He’ll laugh at Hyungwon for crying over a predictable character death in bad movies they still choose to watch despite the shitty ratings. Then the part where they get down to pouring their undivided love and attention on worshipping each other’s bodies varies but all the circumstances lead to a pleasurable haze of movements.

Minhyuk’s lips are on his cheek, Minhyuk’s lips are on his own lips until Minhyuk’s lips is able touch every surface of Hyungwon’s skin that he wishes to claim as his own and Hyungwon is just as eager to do the same. He never knew how to shy away from worshipping every part of Minhyuk he could get to, always asking Minhyuk to open up and show more and more.     

 

It’s been years since he’d grown accustomed to waking up with Minhyuk’s body lying next to his and yet it’s still a precious feeling that has his mood soaring to new heights. Hyungwon couldn’t have guessed that love was truly just a bit magical. The close proximity of their beings beautifully entangled together with long limbs and warm skin against skin made it hard to exactly figure out where he ended and Minhyuk began. He is used to this; waking up next to his other half and yet he’s falling deeper in love once again- falling for this kind of life and falling for the shorter man that’s clearly already awake under the thick blankets.

Coming to his senses, he feels soft movement of warm finger tips tracing circles and random patterns on his bare chest. The culprit of the touches is emitting soft squeaking sounds from trying to hold back his giggles. Hyungwon chuckles and he wills his own arms to move, hands blindly grasping at the sheets, Minhyuk’s warm skin, and even his own body. The culprit stops supressing his voice and a series of loud melodious giggles can be heard. Hyungwon takes it as a signal to continue his attack of touches, holding and squeezing at whatever until two hands meet his and he slows down and lets the other’s long fingers interlace perfectly with his own.

 

_“What are you thinking about?”_ Minhyuk finally says as his face emerges from under the sheets. Hyungwon pulls him in closer and lets go of the older man’s hands in favour of wrapping his hands around Minhyuk’s bare shoulders.

_“I’m just always thinking about you.”_ Hyungwon replies as he sees a small tattoo of a single red rose in full bloom found on the side of the other’s neck. It was his work from months back. He says nothing before he leans in and laps at the spot where it’s inked on. He feels Minhyuk shift as the other tils his chin up to let Hyungwon gain more access.  

 

 

* * *

 

**[ March, 2014 ]**

 

_“You’ve been drawing different versions of that for a week now. Do you want me to ink you?”_ Jooheon says seriously as he watched Hyungwon messing with another scratch of paper that had different designs of a whale. Drawings ranges from just the tip of the whale’s tail to intricate designs of the underwater scene with starfishes and shrimps and crabs.

When he isn’t working on a client, Hyungwon couldn’t keep the thought of the friendly majestic sea creature out of his mind. Hyunwoo had commented to him a few days back to not throw the pieces of paper away and that they’ll be making a whole portfolio of just Hyungwon’s whale designs. It’s really been a bad case of whale obsession and the fact that Jooheon is getting fed up with it is a wake-up call for him.

 

_“I don’t know.”_ Hyungwon says as he eyes at least ten different variations of the animal. He actually wants to get one. Has been racking his brains to find the perfect design that he won’t hate- and a design that his partner wouldn’t hate.

_“Yes you do. You’re scared you’ll regret it later. Just let me ink you and if that turns out to be a mistake then we’ll just make something over it. Stop being so scared of the ink, Hyungwon.”_

Jooheon was right. For someone who made a living in making permanent art on people’s skin, he was being a bit too shy in expressing his own desired. He did want a tattoo on a little whale, something that would remind him of his beautiful ball of sunshine that was probably making other people laugh and smile at that very moment. Hyungwon sticks out his right hand of Jooheon’s face and laughs at the younger tattoo artist swats his hand away.

_“Tattoo the side of my right ring finger, Lee Jooheon.”_

_“Will you pay me?”_

_“I’ll pay you with everlasting love and friendship.”_

  

* * *

 

 

**[ November, 2013]**

 

  
_“Are you sober?”_ The pink haired man asked, voiced laced with annoyance. Minhyuk watched as pink plump lips turn downward indicating a clear frown. Within a split second he sees a full face of displeasure already plastered on the attractive features of the tattoo artist in front of him. Fear and excitement move like electric currents inside of him and he doesn’t hold back a shiver as he lets his eyes settle in contact with the other man’s own.  
  
He had introduced himself as Hyungwon, in a smooth deep voice, smiling sleepily as he greeted Minhyuk. Hyungwon had pushed long strands of soft looking pink hair out of his face, combing back the mildly unruly hair and Minhyuk’s suddenly confused if he had entered heaven instead of the posh tattoo parlour that Hoseok recommended for him. The wall of framed pictures showcasing the shop’s best tattoos on well-known celebrities behind Hyungwon managed to snap Minhyuk back to reality and so he did his best to smile back at the other man.

It was also there and then that Minhyuk had mentally added the sweet name  of Hyungwon on his to do list. It’s the infamous list of the dumbest and most extravagant things he wanted to experience before he kicked the bucket and arguably, the possibility of him emerging out of the tattoo parlour with even the slightest chance in getting into the gorgeous man’s pants is slim to none.

 

If Minhyuk had even the smallest chance with Hyungwon when he first entered, that has all been thrown out of the drain once he talked about what he wanted to shop to do for him. Now the artist was looking at him as if Minhyuk was acting a whole fool and wasting his time.

Minhyuk is both sober and serious with his request so he doesn’t understand the beautiful man’s apprehension. The intensity of the other man’s drastic shift in mood had intimidated Minhyuk to no end and the fact that he found the pink haired tattoo artist so undeniably attractive is enough to affect his self-consciousness and the resolve that he had built before even going near any tattoo parlour.

  
  
Everything was different from what he had expected and probably only because Minhyuk had recklessly dived in to this decision a few days prior. He obviously skipped doing the research about the next item he had wished to check off his list. The most game changing aspect was the tattoo artist in front of him being a far cry from the ones Minhyuk had envision in his head. He had pictured being intimidated and inked by big tough looking men whose skin would be heavily inked with tattoos of roses, skulls, faces and beautiful letterings all existing on a mess of color on skin. Their bodies acts as a whole canvass of stories they wanted to tell or art that needed to be expressed.

Hyungwon in front of him was a far cry from Minhyuk’s expectations.

 

The man was tall with a lithe figure clothed in a full black outfit that consisted of an oversized knitted sweater and ripped jeans. He had light pink hair that gets attractively pushed back every few seconds and Minhyuk wants to get something to just pull the long strands together in a man bun, that or maybe he just wants to make an excuse to touch Hyungwon’s hair.

He looked stunning behind the wire framed circle glasses. Handsomeness existed in the form of soft large doe eyes, a perfectly high nose bridge, large pouty lips and soft cheeks all framed in a small but chiselled face. Hyungwon looked like a model out of the runway with beautiful presence and the pretty dangling chains of silver adorning his ears and neck. Minhyuk wondered what those would feel like in between his fingers, if Hyungwon would get angry if he tugged on them a little too roughly.

The only indication that Hyungwon was an actual employee of the shop are the tattoos aesthetically littering the back of his hands. There was a coin sized tattoo of a rose in full bloom near his right thumb, minimalist black tattoos of different shapes are on most of his fingers with the exception of one English word written in cursive on Hyungwon’s left index finger. The most noticeable tattoo statement from what Minhyuk can see are the thin beautiful vines of black that are swirling and looping in a subtle pattern with little flowers and leaves. The work of art that could be mistaken for something drawn by a thin marker is intricately crawling, peeking out from inside the shirt to the middle of his collarbones and spreading only in one direction onto the side of his right neck ending just before the base of his chin. Minhyuk wants to see underneath the black sweater, if there was more to the monochrome flower garden that’s already taking his breath away.

  
_“What do you mean by, I should surprise you with the tattoo? I can’t just slap anything I want and ink it on your skin. That’s not how it works here.”_ Hyungwon’s voice comes out stronger than before, stress and frustration slowly building up in his nerves and Minhyuk’s gently laughing as he idly flips on the pages of their catalogue. There are dozens of books filled with different variations of words, animals, flowers, objects even people and yet Minhyuk has the nerve to tell him to;  _“Surprise, me Hyungwon.”_  

_“Come on, it’s going to be fun and exciting. I’ll love anything you put on.”_ The blond man says in the most enthusiastic voice. It seems like tattoo artist’s frustration can’t even come across the other.

 

Hyungwon doesn’t judge people for getting tattoos with profound meaning, or even just for fun, just because it looks cool. He encourages it, people getting tattoos for whatever reason- because it helps them feel good with themselves, maybe to cover up past mistakes or maybe just because they want to have control on their body and lives. People get tattoos for an infinite amount of reasons, and Hyungwon never dwelled too much on the “whys” of the customers and concerns himself on the “what” would make them leave their shop just a bit happier with a piece of art Hyungwon made himself impart on someone else.

He had never given anyone a surprise tattoo and never pictured himself to do so and yet this beautiful blond man walks into their shop at half past three in the afternoon and asks him to just says _“Do whatever feels like it’s perfect for me.”_

 

Hyungwon of course has his pride as an artist. In the very instant that the stranger had walked past the tinted glass doors of their shop and smiled at him so warmly all the possibilities swirled inside of his head. He imagines color bursts, beautiful shapes, blooming flowers, stars and planets and maybe even quotes, names and tiny little animals littering the pale white skin of the beautiful man. Within seconds Hyungwon had tried to push his thoughts off knowing that the customer had the absolute power in choose what they wanted to be inked on to them and yet- Minhyuk, asks him to freely do what he wants.

Hyungwon’s taken aback and the creator in him wants nothing but to make elaborate designs on the whole expanse of Minhyuk’s smooth chest and back. He wants to ask Minhyuk to open his legs so he can ink the universe on his thighs but that’s not something he can ask to someone he’s just met. Minhyuk probably only wanted a small tattoo of whatever pattern with little to no relevance and its only purpose it to be able to check out one line from a whole list of stupid things Minhyuk will be doing in his life.

It’s so easy for Hyungwon to something generic like drawing even just a circle or triangular black tattoo someone inconspicuous, somewhere Minhyuk will forget he even had ink done. Minhyuk will leave the tattoo parlour in a few hours and they’ll never have to talk about this encounter again, never have to see each other again. But Hyungwon can’t bring himself to just, do his job silently. He can’t ink Minhyuk’s skin with his own fantasies.

 

_“You don’t even know me. I don’t know you. What if I don’t make something you’ll love?”_

_“We just met, but I know you’re Hyungwon and trust your judgement. The tattoos on you are beautiful by the way.”_

 

Hyungwon looks at Minhyuk searching for any sign to show that he’s joking but the other man was serious. His heart skips a bit at the adoration in Minhyuk’s honest eyes as he freely he looks at the little tattoos on Hyungwon’s hands and the obvious one that’s a whole piece of monochrome vines and blooming flowers that took up most of the right side of his upper body. He doesn’t know much about Minhyuk but he’s absolutely beautiful and it’s frustrating Hyungwon to no end the way the man values brash freedom to the extent of idiocy. 

_“Look, this is your first time getting a tattoo and you can’t just be going with it blindly. You’re sober but you’re acting so irrational right now. Can you even take the pain?”_

_“It’s okay, I’m sure I can handle it. But if I cry you have to promise not to make fun of me.”_

_“What if I made something crude like a realistic picture of dick and balls on your knee? Would you like that? I can actually do that?”_

 

Minhyuk looks at him in bewilderment and laughs so loud the catalogue in his hands falls down. Hyungwon scrunches his face at annoyance because he’s being serious and he really can sabotage Minhyuk’s untouched skin if he wanted to.

_“It’s a great conversation starter. I can even say I like dick and balls so much I had it tattoo-ed on me. My best friend is going to kill me but that would actually be so iconic!”_

_“Minhyuk!”_

_“Yes, Hyungwon?”_

_“You’re impossible.!”_

_“Please, make my dreams possible.”_  
  


Hyungwon takes one look at Minhyuk’s still determined face and he feels himself gives in. He tried to convince himself that it’s for the business and yet he knows deep inside he’s can’t just reject Minhyuk. He wanted to at least be able to create something on the skin of someone he considered to be a breathing art. He knows he’s insanely attracted to this stranger by the name of Minhyuk who claims to want a surprise tattoo just for his own whims. Hyungwon thinks it’s a stupid decision for both of them but at least he’ll get to leave a piece of him on Minhyuk.

_“You know what, fine. But I’m already warning you that removing tattoos are more painful than actually getting one.”_ Hyungwon says in a lecturing tone and Minhyuk makes delighted noises in response.

 

As if Hyungwon’s being was not already a whole surprise by itself, Minhyuk couldn’t believe that he had to actually convince the tattoo artist to ink a surprise tattoo on him. Someone who initially looked like a stoic and cool man that gave off the aura that he was all business and would want Minhyuk to get the random tattoo done and over with- not caring about anything else would turn out to be another person that would nag him about his questionable choices.  
  
_“It’s part of the things I want to do! Get a surprise tattoo from an artist.”_ Minhyuk had reasoned out despite the clear judgement from the other, Hyungwon lets him speak on how he became somewhat addicted to completing his list because it makes him feel excited and free.

Minhyuk goes on a rant about how he has this wonderful bucket list written since his last year in university. It’s an ever growing list of things; some grand and some just little weird things that he tries to at least accomplish one every month or so.

Right now he wanted to get a tattoo- completely leaving out the fact that Kihyun had egged him into finally getting one of the more “permanent” bucket list pointers- which is the tattoo.

  
  
Hyungwon still listens from his seat opposite of Minhyuk as he gets the instruments ready for the tattoo. Theres a white paper with the design facing the surface of the table separating them and Minhyuk doesn’t try to look at it. He continues excitedly talking about the time he was on vacation in Hong Kong with his best friends; Hoseok and Kihyun.

‘I was technically not third wheeling at that time we left Korea but when we got back I’m the only single one. We went to Macau and I had this amazing plan to get them together so I forced them to jump off the highest bungee jump tower with me. They thought they were going to die so they sort used the panic to confess their love for each other. You see Hyungwon, some pressure are positive and my list helps people too, somewhat.’ Minhyuk says that Hyungwon is silently snickering at his words so he gets back to their agenda of the day. 

 

_“So you have to do this because it’s important to me. I really trust you, okay.”_

_“Sure, Minhyuk.”_

  
  
Hyungwon sighs exaggerated in defeat, as if he wasn’t already setting up the table minutes ago. Seeing Minhyuk passionately talk about his list and how dead set he was on completing it was adorable. Mostly because Minhyuk was undeniably adorable with his uneven blinking, his pale blond hair and the way he plays with his long slender fingers as he talks and talks.

 

The thing was, Hyungwon wasn’t sure how he had the luck to just be the only one manning the shop when it wasn’t even his shift. Hyungwon only worked on the weekdays and this specific Saturday afternoon meeting was able to happen because he was covering for Jooheon. The younger tattoo artist had a date with his boyfriend- Changkyun, the little shit.

Hyungwon has had his fare share of feeling attracted to customers, especially because they have an extensive clientele within celebrities and models alike. Hyungwon especially gets hit on a lot for his good looks and his gentle way of handling customers. There were countless of times where someone from an agency had given him a calling card and asked him to try considering being an idol or a model and he’d flat out reject all offers. Hyungwon loved what he’s doing and he was working hard to be able to inherit the tattoo parlour that is actually owned by his uncle.

Out of all the times he’d been attracted to a customer, this was the first time that he’d found someone so endearing for all the different reasons. The customer was crazy attractive but the expressions he makes are the cutest. He has the air of wanting to try new things and just doing crazy things to have fun. It was something that piqued at Hyungwon’s interest. The way the long blond hair made him look like a walking sunshine was also a plus- even if his logic was painfully flawed.

Whereas people would blatantly flirt with Hyungwon and ask for a date, Minhyuk seemed to be so taken up on his bucket list. He wasn’t scared to speak his mind and explain his logic even if he knew people would pass judgement on him. The words spilling out of Minhyuk’s mouth about all the stupid things he’d done for the list just made him so much more attractive to Hyungwon.

Minhyuk was beautiful and his personality was amazing and he was someone so raw and unfiltered that Hyungwon wonders if it was okay to fall a little bit in love.   
  
  
  
_“Hyungwon, okay, you can surprise me but I’ll be honest. I’ll really be happy if you’d really tattoo a dick on my leg.”_  
  
Hyungwon rolls his eyes and gives Minhyuk his own sleeping mask to act as a blindfold. It was again something conveniently on his bag as if the universe had conspired for him to really be the creator of Minhyuk’s first tattoo.  
  
_“Ok Minhyuk, I think I have an idea.”_  
  
“Well don’t tell me, that would ruin the surprise.”   
  


 

* * *

  
  
_“Are you crying?”_ Hyungwon asks softly, he’d just finished outlining with the black ink and was on the process of changing the tattoo machine to fill out some parts with another color when he hears a sniffing sound from the other man. The blond is still blindfolded and has been quiet for the last five minutes aside from the occasional whimpering.  

He can see Minhyuk’s one hand gripping on his free knee and the other squeezing the hand rest of the chair. Minhyuk had decided to have his first tattoo on the side of his right knee where a small scar from a childhood accident can be seen. The scar was the part where Hyungwon would be later on be filling with color.  
  
“It’s mostly the pain but I can handle it” Minhyuk says, voice a bit shaky.  
  
Hyungwon remembers that this is Minhyuk’s first tattoo. He isn’t sure if the other would love what he’s drawing but from the short time they’ve met, this is what he thinks would fit the other the most. Something light and beautiful that spelled creativity and freedom.  
  
Underneath Hyungwon’s clothes are numerous tattoos, some he regrets having, some he can’t remember when he got and others that he continues to love every day. As he inks Minhyuk’s skin for the first time he’s scared that the impulsive decision and the memory of Hyungwon would be something the other would regret in the future.

 

* * *

  
  
“ _You can look now.”_ Hyungwon turns the tattoo machine off after wiping the last stroke of ink mixed with some of Minhyuk’s blood off the skin. It was a beautiful light blue ink and he looks at his work in, light lines and almost muted blue color against Minhyuk’s pale skin and he hopes that the other would feel as proud as he is.  
  
Hyungwon didn’t know of Minhyuk as much yet- he didn’t know what color would best represent a person as beautiful as him, maybe yellow or orange or red could have been a better option but Hyungwon thought Minhyuk by himself was already loud, already a statement piece on his own so he had reached for a muted light blue to fill in the colors of the delicate flowers that floated with the outline of a beautiful whale. The picture of a whale looking majestic and happy to just freely float in to the ocean of flowers. Free and majestic was what Minhyuk was and Hyungwon had it with thin lines and muted colors of blue and black, minimalistic but striking just as Hyungwon likes to think his preferred style is.  
  
When Minhyuk takes off the blindfold and looks at the tattoo he cries and pulls Hyungwon for a long hug and the taller man chuckles. A series of thank you can be heard and Hyungwon allows himself to pat Minhyuk in the head because despite the pain, he managed hold himself back from causing problems.

 

_“It hurts but it looks so good. And it still stings but I’m in love with it. The whale and the flowers, they’re all so beautiful!”_   Minhyuk blurts out as he touches the newly made tattoo, the skin around it as bright red from irritation and pain. The genuine happiness on his face takes Hyungwon’s breath away and he wonders if he can try being someone more than just the man who gave him his first tattoo.   
  
_“You’re welcome. I’m more surprised you didn’t come asking for a full on face of a random person to be inked on your back. Someone came in yesterday asking to have a realistic portrait of their dog on the ass and I’m honestly so tired. I think this style suits you well”_

  
  
Minhyuk laughs out loud in between tears and tells him he should send him a picture when the tattoo sessions for that man are finally done because Minhyuk has a dog of his own and might just be adding that thought to his list. Hyungwon nods and it dawns on him that Minhyuk wants to keep in contact.   
  
_“Hey Minhyuk, do you want my number? For more than just a dog’s tattoo on your ass?”_ He says before even thinking everything through and Minhyuk turns an embarrassing shade of red.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**[ Minhyuk, Hyungwon's Whale Tattoo Visuals ]**

 

   

**Author's Note:**

> So idk what I wrote and the title is shitty so there is that. 2nd work for the Hyunghyuk Bingo. I am so sorry I write slow or just....cannot do shit properly. Please forgive me and comments and kudos are greatly loved <3 
> 
> If there are grammar and spelling mistakes I will get back and edit this later on, sorry for that!


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